Hacked Off, a group that has campaigned against press invasions of privacy, as well as a number of Labour politicians, have claimed that newspapers sat on the story, using it to put pressure on the culture secretary not to impose tough new press regulations.

Mr Whittingdale with a female companion in 2013Credit:
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Mr Whittingdale admitted last night that he had been in a relationship with the woman, whom he met on the dating website Match.com, between August 2013 and February 2014. In a statement released to the BBC's Newsnight programme, he said that he had ended the relationship when he was notified by a newspaper that she was a sex worker.

Maria Eagle, the shadow culture secretary, called for Mr Whittingdale to withdraw from decisions on press regulation, saying that doing so would “allay any concerns about perceptions of any undue influence”.

Her comments came after Chris Bryant, who was previously shadow culture secretary, claimed the press were "quite deliberately holding a sword of Damocles over John Whittingdale". He added: "He has a perfect right to a private life but as soon as he knew this he should have withdrawn from all regulation of the press."

But the pair were immediately countermanded by shadow foreign secretary Hillary Benn, who said: “I don't think frankly that is going to happen. There's no sign that's going to happen. He ought to get on and do his job. His private life is his own affair.”

Mr Whittingdale with a female companion in 2013Credit:
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Liam Fox, the Conservative former defence secretary, accused Labour of “unbelievable hypocrisy”, adding: “The fact papers didn't run story in first place shows press regulation is working.”

Labour MP Kate Hoey also said that Hacked Off were hypocrites. She wrote on Twitter: “I thought Hacked Off wanted less press intrusion or is that only for celebrity actors.”

Unbelievable hypocrisy from @labour on @JWhittingdale. The fact papers didn't run story in first place shows press regulation is working

A number of media experts said that newspapers could not have run the story, as it did not meet the necessary public interest threshold.

Mr Whittingdale with a female companion in 2013Credit:
FameFlynet

Steve Hewlett, a Guardian columnist who presents The Media Show, on Radio 4, said: “If you take at face value what he has said, and the story is man meets woman on Match.com, doesn’t know she is a prostitute, and when he finds out, stops the relationship, it is hard to see how you get to a story with a public interest justification.

“I just don’t see any evidence for this grand conspiracy that is being suggested. You just don’t need any of that to explain his attitude towards press regulation. It was always the way he was likely to go.”

Roy Greenslade, a media commentator who has a Guardian column, said: “It’s quite straightforward; newspapers have decided that they would try and get a story, they have investigated the story and have discovered there isn’t a story that they can justify publishing. There are no public interest justifications.”

Bob Satchwell, the executive director of the Society of Editors, said it was a "preposterous conspiracy theory too far" to say newspapers and broadcasters "jointly decided not to publish" the story .

"The idea that the newspapers and broadcasters could all get together and say 'we are not running the story' is just silly," he said. "This story seems to be more about the dangers of using dating websites.

Mr Whittingdale with a female companion in 2013Credit:
FameFlynet

"In effect a single man embarrassingly ended a relationship with a single woman after he discovered she was not all she appeared to be. Since the Leveson report and the establishment of a new and tougher press regulator, papers have become extremely careful about stories involving anyone in public life."

Charlie Beckett, a media professor at the London School of Economics, said: “Ultimately, any suggestion that the newspapers suppressed the story purely to avoid more stringent press regulation just does not make much political sense. This is a man who has always been on the record as strongly, ideologically opposed to any statutory regulation of the press.”